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The Taiping Rebellion
History of the Rebellion – In the mid-19th century, China (who was under the rule of the Qing Dynasty) suffered a series of natural disasters, economic problems, and defeats by the Western powers The main defeat was in 1842 by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War. The Qing Dynasty were seen by much of the Chinese population, as ineffective foreign rulers. The sect's power grew in the late 1840s, initially suppressing groups of bandits and pirates, but persecution by Qing authorities spurred the movement into a guerrilla rebellion and then into civil war. The revolt began in the Guangxi Province. After a small battle which they won in the late December 1850, in early January 1851, a ten thousand-strong rebel army organized by Feng Yunshan and Wei Changhui gathered Imperial troops in the town of Jintian. On January 11, 1851, on his birthday, Hong Xiuquan declared himself "Heavenly King" of a new dynasty, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace" The revolt rapidly spread northward. In March 1853, between 700,000 and 800,000 Taiping soldiers who were directed by commander-in-chief Yang Xiuqing took Nanjing, and killed 30,000 imperial soldiers and thousands of civilians. The city became the movement's capital and was renamed Tianjing, which means "Heavenly Capital". Hong Xiuquan built his Palace of Heavenly King there by moving the Qing’s who used to live there. At its height, the Heavenly Kingdom surrounded most of south and central China, centered on the Yangtze river valley. Control of the river meant that the Taipings could easily supply their capital at Nanjing. From there, the Taipings continued their assault. Two armies were sent west, to secure the upper parts of the Yangtze. Two more armies were sent north to secure the Imperial capital, Beijing. These two expeditions could have acted as a big movement across the country. The western expedition had some success, but the attempt to take over Beijing failed. In 1853 Hong Xiuquan withdrew from control of policies and administration. Hong Xiuquan disagreed with Yang in certain parts of policy and became suspicious of Yang's ambitions, his network and spies, and his declarations when "speaking as God". Yang and his family were put to death by Hong's followers in 1856, followed by the killing of troops loyal to Yang. With their leader out of the picture, Taiping people tried to widen their popular support with the Chinese middle classes and form alliances with European powers, but failed. The Europeans decided to stay neutral. Inside China, the rebellion faced trouble from the middle class because of their hostility to Chinese customs and Confucian values. The upper class sided with the Imperial forces and their Western allies. In 1859 Hong Rengan, a cousin of Hong Xiuquan, joined the Taiping in Nanjing, and was given power by Hong Xiuquan. He developed a plan to expand the Kingdom's boundaries. In 1860 the Taiping were successful in taking Hang Zhou and Suzhou to the east, but failed to take Shanghai(Battle of Shanghai (1861)), which marked the beginning of the decline of the Kingdom. An attempt to take Shanghai in August 1860 was backfired by a force of Chinese troops and western officers under the command of Frederick Townsend Ward. This army would later become the "Ever Victorious Army", led by "Chinese" Gordon, and would be successful in the defeat of the Taiping rebels. Imperial forces were reorganized under the command of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and the Imperial reconquest began. By early 1864 Imperial control in most areas was well established. Hong Xiuquan declared that God would defend Nanjing, but in June 1864, he died of food poisoning as the result of eating wild vegetables as the city began to run out of food. He was sick for 20 days before the Imperial forces could take the city. Only a few days after his death did the Imperial forces take the city. His body was buried in the Ming Imperial Palace where it was later cremated by Zeng to verify his death. Hong's ashes were later blasted out of a cannon in order to ensure that his remains have no resting place as eternal punishment for the uprising. Four months before the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping, Hong Xiuquan resigned in favor of Hong Tianguifu, his eldest son, who was fifteen years old. Hong Tianguifu was unable to do anything to restore the Kingdom, so the Kingdom was destroyed when Nanjing fell in July 1864 to the Imperial armies after fighting. Most of the princes were executed by Qing Imperials in Jinling Town, Nanjing. Although the fall of Nanjing in 1864 marked the destruction of the Taiping, the fight was not over. There were still several hundred thousand Taiping rebel troops continuing the fight, with more than a quarter-million Taiping rebels fighting in the border regions of Jiangxi and Fujian. It would take more than half a decade to finally put down all members of the Taiping Rebellion: it was not until August 1871 that the last Taiping rebel army led by General Li Fuzhong was completely wiped out by the government forces in the border region of Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi. What type of war was the Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion was actually a Civil War - We think this is a civil war because it was a war between groups in the same country/nation/region. It also lasted a long time - 14 years, and since WW2 ended, civil wars have been known to go on for an average of at least 4 years. A civil war is also commonly defined as 'a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies'. It is also something to do with economic crisis, problems, battles or arguments. The Taiping Rebellion was basically a fight between two dynasties in China which began when the Qing Dynasty suffered a series of natural disasters, economic problems, and defeats at the hands of the western powers. People chose to rebel against the king so problems and arguments were formed between the two sides. Types of Causes Featured in Our War 1. Economic - This was probably one of the biggest causes because it was one that triggered the Rebellion/Battle/War 2. Religious - It was stated that the king which fell ill, told everyone he was the son of jesus or a reborn jesus. 3. Industrial 4. Opinion and Belief - Rebel against the king Consequences - Between 20 - 50 million casualties - Drastic weakening of the Qing Dynasty - Sparking off more rebellions (although none as deadly as the Taiping revolution) Eg. The Nien rebellion, The Du Wen Xiu rebellion and etc - More political and economic interference from Westen powers Explanation of how far our war is typical of other wars